Brewer looks in mirror and sees Goddard

by E. J. Montini - Aug. 19, 2010 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

Attorney General Terry Goddard is being grossly unfair. But smart.

For the past couple of weeks, the Democratic challenger for the Governor's Office has stolen a page from Gov. Jan Brewer's playbook and used it to blame Brewer for the escape of three dangerous inmates from a private Arizona prison.

Goddard said that Brewer has "consistently" favored private prisons like the one in Kingman from which two killers escaped, along with an inmate convicted of attempted murder.

He is calling for Brewer's administration to declare a moratorium on placing violent criminals in for-profit facilities, saying, "They're going to cut costs wherever they can, putting public safety at risk."

Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman angrily responded, "His criticisms are little more than an irresponsible stunt attempting to score political points off of a terrible tragedy."

Senseman is right.

Goddard absolutely is trying to score political points off a tragedy, which some people would call irresponsible.

Sort of the way some people might say that Brewer irresponsibly tried to score political points off the death of Cochise County rancher Robert Krentz.

Goddard is no dummy.

Since signing Senate Bill 1070, Brewer has destroyed him in the polls by utilizing a fear-mongering, finger-pointing, blame-game strategy.

Now it's Goddard's turn.

The inmates escaped from a prison run by Management and Training Corp. of Utah.

The facility was meant to house minimum-security prisoners but was upgraded to house medium-security inmates. Goddard says that murderers should not be housed in such a place, which makes Brewer at fault for the escape. Brewer says that such criticism is unjust. She points out that it was Gov. Janet Napolitano who approved the prison deal.

Sort of the way people might say that Brewer is not justified in blaming President Barack Obama for immigration and border-security problems that festered for eight years under President George W. Bush.

Then there is the cozy relationship that Goddard says the Brewer administration has with the private-prison industry.

"Our over-reliance on private, for-profit prisons combined with excessive budget cuts," he said, "and the improper assignment of violent criminals to low-security prisons contributed to making these escapes possible."

For anyone to hint that Brewer might cozy up to private business in a way that runs counter to citizen interests and puts the state at risk is a grossly speculative attack.

Sort of the way people might say it is grossly speculative of Brewer and others to hint that politicians who want comprehensive immigration reform are putting security at risk in order to attract Latino votes.

Goddard also has lashed out at Brewer for not spending enough money on the Department of Corrections, saying that budget cuts pushed through by the governor and the Republican Legislature have made prisons less secure.

Given the difficulties lawmakers have trying to deal with huge deficits, this seems like an undeserved knock.

Sort of the way some people might take Brewer to task for lashing out at the federal government for not spending enough on the border when Congress also is dealing with enormous budget deficits.